PEORIA CLERICAL UNIT SETTLES AFTER BRIEF STRIKE

A two-day strike in October produced a quick contract agreement for a unit of 125 clerical staff personnel in the Peoria (Ill.) School District. On Oct. 28, members represented by the Peoria Federation of Support Staff Clerical Unit/AFT set up picket lines at schools throughout the district. The local held a lively rally on Oct. 29, and after a lengthy negotiating session on Oct. 30, reached a tentative agreement, which the members ratified that day.

The strike was caused in part by some questionable bargaining practices on the part of the district school board. During negotiations, the board representatives had made an offer that included salary and step increases, only to withdraw that offer later in September, something that union representatives pointed out violates state labor law. In the end, the clerical staff settled for salary hikes ranging from 2 percent to nearly 3.4 percent, plus step increases, over the three-year contract. Just as important, they found a new spirit of solidarity and respect.

As the union noted in a press release during the strike, “Clerical staff are the backbone of Peoria schools,” doing everything from dealing with parents on the phone to helping prepare report cards to making sure the district gets reimbursed by the federal government for a number of programs. “We assist teachers, principals and students to help make the school day run smoothly.”

CONGRESS APPROVES FINAL SPECIAL ED LEGISLATION

The bill that President Bush signed on Dec. 3 reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes some improvements but misses some opportunities, says the AFT. For paraprofessionals, one positive outcome was that the bill does not impose the same job qualifications as those contained in the No Child Left Behind Act. The AFT worked hard to keep the old IDEA language.

Among the improvements the AFT supported were provisions giving special education teachers more flexibility in meeting the “highly qualified” requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, including additional funds to help them meet those requirements. The bill also gives schools more flexibility in disciplining special education students and streamlines some procedures and paperwork. The new bill did not go far enough with student discipline, however; the AFT wanted language giving principals more authority to remove students who are dangerous or persistently disruptive. Funding is another issue to watch. Ultimately, the legislation will only be able to deliver on its promises to America’s disabled students if it is fully funded, something Congress did not mandate in this version.

Read future issues of the Reporter for more information on the reauthorized IDEA. For now, you can see the final language on issues relevant to paraprofessionals at www.aft.org/psrp/topics/download/PSRP_IDEA.pdf.

AFT LOOKING TO WORK WITH NEW
EDUCATION SECRETARY

The AFT is looking forward to continuing its “good working relationship” with President Bush’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, White House domestic policy adviser Margaret Spellings, AFT president Edward J. McElroy said after Spellings’ nomination was announced in November. McElroy noted that the union has worked with Spellings in the past and has found her to be “accessible, open and willing to listen.”

The AFT president reiterated that the challenge of “correcting the fundamental problems of the No Child Left Behind Act” remains. He also said the nation faces a host of other challenges that are outside the scope of the law, including better working conditions and compensation for teachers and other school employees and greater access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education.

Spellings, who for six years worked as Bush’s education advisor in Texas, was named by President Bush to replace outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige. “We are sure the good working relationship we have had with Spellings will continue,” added McElroy, “and the AFT is ready to work with Spellings and others in the administration who share our goal of ensuring that all students have access to the high-quality education they deserve.”